The Line Between Love and Hate
by Brave-Phoenix
Summary: Because really, Fate loves making fools of us when we try and magnify that very finite line.


_**Nine-tailed Angel Projects**_

_**Disclaimer:** Kishimoto Masashi-sensei did it! Not me. So don't blame me._

_**Note:** I think I completely mutilated the characters, but this whole "thin line between love and hate" thing was pestering me. It needed my attention. So I let the plot bunny have it; and thus, we have the below insanity. Whee! Enjoy the ItaSaku goodiness._

**The Line Between Love and Hate **

_Kyuubi Seitenshi _

Oh, how ironic it was, this finite line between love and hate.

For sure, it had taken several years and many times the rending of my barely-mended heart before it happened.

Before my love for Uchiha Sasuke became unadulterated hate.

But at our last encounter, it was my final chance. If I didn't do something there and then, this would be Orochimaru the next time I saw him. Even my most reasonable of pleas did nothing to him, of course, and for the last time, I saw my heart shatter at his feet.

Somehow, from there, everything had become so easy.

_"You're going to make yourself worth my while, Uchiha. You owe me this much for all the pain you've caused!"_

And I had proceeded to knock him out. There's still no telling how many times I pulled that bastard back from the brink of death and further, just for my own experiments. I somehow _enjoyed_ knowing that I was sending him to his grave time and time again, only to bring him back for one more shot. When I returned from my mission two weeks late, Tsunade asked me what happened. Understandably, she was raging and practically sober from worry. I'd only had to do one thing: flash her my Sharingan, the Mirror-wheel Eyes, which I had copied. With my skills, the minor reconstructions and surgery it had taken to get them to that point were no harder than curing Sasori's poison.

I am Haruno Sakura, after all; I am the Godaime Hokage's apprentice, and the most promising med-nin of the century, surpassing even my teacher.

It seemed that she understood from that what I had been up to. And she wasn't very happy.

So I left. Konoha became a strange place. Naruto was uneasy in my presence, and Kakashi avoided me. Even Ino used every available excuse to stay away. My patients became tense when they realized I was their doctor. I had to take it upon myself to practically put Hinata through mental torture before I found out that rumors (very true rumors) were flying about my dealings with the S-class missing-nin Uchiha Sasuke.

But it didn't matter. I resigned my duty as a Konoha kunoichi and left. Simple. Just like my teacher had left all those years ago.

And where did I find myself now? Having issues with yet another Uchiha. Of course, life and karma have it in for me; I'm intelligent, strong, and most importantly, famous. Of course, having my face plastered in half the world's bingo-books didn't help with this; couldn't go anywhere without being recognized by some shinobi or other. So of course, it should've been no surprise when one Uchiha Itachi spotted my oh-so-fabulously-pink hair in the crowd. His original intentions were to have me as a hostage to lure in my old teammate. I had shown him to think twice when Mangekyou and Mangekyou battled in the same field. I believe that I am the first and only to ever see Itachi in utter speechless, stunned shock.

And this was were I really began to see just how truly thin the line was.

When my hate for that Uchiha… became such a powerful love.

We fought for hours. Was it days? I still don't know. My strength and intelligence only a bare fraction of a step behind his, and our Sharingan at the ready. But I held my own; nearly beat him twice, but in the end both our bodies failed, and in a last-ditch effort, he pinned me to the ground with his full weight. Without chakra, I couldn't lift him. Without chakra, he couldn't use the Sharingan. It was a stalemate of an interesting sort, and somehow, it ended in something much _more _interesting.

When was the first electrifying touch or mind-boggling kiss, I couldn't begin to tell you; I'm not even sure when exactly it was our clothes came off. The line was so blurred, that one between love and hate, that even time seemed relative to it. But it had happened; before I knew it, lust drove us to each other, and Fate's red string got too short for us to pull away. Of course, there was no way in Heaven or Hell that we'd get any peace, and we knew it; even if I was no longer a Konoha kunoichi, I could not bring myself to be such a merciless assassin as he had been, nor could he be reconciled to the villages.

We have yet to see the outcome of our love. Even today, as I rock our son to sleep in the small house I have in Tea Country, I await one of his visits. He tells me, every time, that it will only be a little longer before his preparations will be complete, but he refuses to tell me what they are. But, as little good as it does me, I trust him; and he will not betray me, of that I am certain.

Oh, the lines between love and hate; they're so vague, it can seem that there is no line at all. Life plays us for fools every time we try and distinguish it. But I'll let Fate have its way, for once.

This is one time that I don't mind the fineness of the line.

* * *

**AN: Tada! A new ItaSaku oneshot. And don't get the wrong idea; I'm not anti-SasuSaku. I'm not as fond of the pairing as I used to be, but I don't hate it. In fact, if I ever get it finished, I'm writing a full-length story (or two) with SasuSaku as the pairing. Whatever; please review! I know the ending was stupid, but some things don't wanna work themselves out right. (_pouts_) R&R!!!**


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